Topic: Fireface UFX - Presales questions about USB and front Preamps

Hello RME friends!

Before purchasing a FF UFX I need some more information about it. I searched over this forum and on the internet without any luck sad
So,
1) Does this unit is "USB audio class compliant 2.0" (which allows multitrack audio stream 24bit@192KHz such as the Lynx Aurora LT-USB, see here for usb audio standard) and "USB MIDI class compliant" (see here for usb midi standard) ? Do you plan, through firmware updates, to make it compliant with usb standards?

2) Does  the preamps are pure class A ? Is the preamp circuitry all discrete or using chips ? What Op-Amp is in use in the preamps if any ? What chips are using in the preamps if any ? What kind of preamp design are you using (balanced, twin servo, input / output transformer or transformer less...) ? Are they comparable to premium gear such as Millennia HV3C, SSL 9K or are they just above main stream gear such as Presonus (which has pure discrete class A preamps), Motu, Digidesign 003 etc...) ?

3) Is it possible to use the "field recording option" DURec for stacking multiple tracks (i.e. First, we record some guitar track, then we record drums simultaneously while playing back the guitar we first recorded) ?

Best Regards,
Fat

2

Re: Fireface UFX - Presales questions about USB and front Preamps

fatbwif wrote:

1) Does this unit is "USB audio class compliant 2.0"

Of course not. Then it would work like Apple and Microsoft want it to, not like we (RME, and most probably you too) want it to.

fatbwif wrote:

(which allows multitrack audio stream 24bit@192KHz

It does allow so, this has nothing to do with 'Class Compliant'. It is Class Compliant as MIDI Interface on the Mac.

fatbwif wrote:

2) Does  the preamps are pure class A ? Is the preamp circuitry all discrete or using chips ? What Op-Amp is in use in the preamps if any ? What chips are using in the preamps if any ? What kind of preamp design are you using (balanced, twin servo, input / output transformer or transformer less...) ? Are they comparable to premium gear such as Millennia HV3C, SSL 9K or are they just above main stream gear such as Presonus (which has pure discrete class A preamps), Motu, Digidesign 003 etc...) ?

Your search must have stopped after 2 minutes, or you would have easily found that we use the TI PGA 2500.

fatbwif wrote:

3) Is it possible to use the "field recording option" DURec for stacking multiple tracks (i.e. First, we record some guitar track, then we record drums simultaneously while playing back the guitar we first recorded) ?

No, and it will never do this. It is not a multi-track-recorder replacement. See it as multi-track logger or multi-track long time recorder.

Regards
Matthias Carstens
RME

Re: Fireface UFX - Presales questions about USB and front Preamps

Maybe you are interested what users say to the UFX. Here is a collection of customer postings: http://synthax.com/~synthax/index.php/fireface-ufx.html

best regards
Knut